Sweeping mop



Nov. 18, 1958 F. M. LEAVELLE SWEEPING MOP Filed Sept. 21

INVENTOR. FRANCIS M. LEAVELLE United States Patent SWEEPING MOP FrancisM. Leavelle, Greenwood, S. C. Application September 21, 1955, Serial No.535,555

2 Claims. (Cl. 15-221) My invention relates to improvements in sweepingmops, and the like.

A primary object of the invention is to provide a mop for sweeping wastematerial from the floors of cotton mills and the like, as well as forother uses, and adapted to handle relatively large quantities of wastematerial as when cleaning the aisles in a cotton mill.

A further object of the invention is to provide a sweeping mop of theabove-mentioned character having means to enclose and partially coverthe waste material during sweeping so that the material cannot be blownover and behind the mop by wind, mechanical blowers or the like.

Another object is to provide a device in the nature of an attachment orhood for an existing sweeping mop, which hood effectively prevents thewaste material from being blown rearwardly from the mop during sweepingand also facilitates lifting the waste material from the floor fordepositing in a waste receptacle.

A still further object is to provide a mop of the abovementionedcharacter having a greatly increased capacity for handling wastage ascompared to existing mops.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent duringthe course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, and inwhich like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout thesame,

Figure l is a plan view of a sweeping mop embodying my invention,

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the mop,

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical section taken on line 33 of Figure 1,

Figure 4 is an enlarged vertical section taken on line 4-4 of Figure 1,

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal section takensubstantially on line 55 of Figure 4, parts broken away,

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section taken on line 6-6of Figure 4,

Figure 7 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section taken substantiallyon line 7--7 of Figure 2,

Figure 8 is a similar section taken substantially on line 88 of Figure3,

Figure 9 is a vertical section taken on line 9- 9 of Figure 5, and,

Figure 10 is a plan view of a fabric hood removed.

In the drawings, where for the purpose of illustration is shown apreferred embodiment of the invention, the numerals and 16 designatecompanion heads or mop sections which are elongated and horizontallydisposed in use for sweeping a floor or the like Each mop section maycomprise a sheet metal holder or body portion 17, inverted U-shaped in,cross section, and receiving and holding a suitable fabric or strand mopelement 18, removably held therein.

The mop sections 15 and 16 are forwardly divergent V we 2 relation. Thebody portions 17 are provided upon their inner sides and near their rearends with pairs of interfitting plates 19 forming hinge knuckles, andrigidly secured to the members 17 by welding or the like. Theinterfitting plates 19 are apertured near their inner ends forthereception of a vertical pintle 20, serving to hingedly connect therear ends of the mop sections or heads 15 and 16 for horizontal swingingmovement.

A pair of handles 21 and 22 are provided for the mop, and these handlesare crossed and pivotally secured together near their longitudinalcenters for scissor-like action by any suitable means as indicated at23. The forward ends of the handles 21 and 22 have swivelled connectionswith the tops of the body portions 17 at 24, near the longitudinalcenters of the members 17 whereby the handles may be pivoted verticallywith respect to the members 17, and these members may also swing orpivot horizontally with respect to the handles.

The construction thus far described is that of a presently existing andknown sweeping mop of the scissors type, and for this reason, a furtherdetailed description of the mop structure is unnecessary.

I provide a generally triangular flexible hood or cover 25 for the mopformed of canvas or the like, as shown in the drawings. The forwardtransverse edge of the hood 25 is sewn to provide a tubular hem 26transversely of the hood for its full width. The tubular hem 26 receivesa resilient bowed frame member 27 therein, suitably formed of a sectionof band saw steel or the like. End horizontal extensions or feet 28 ofthe frame member 27 are disposed over the members 17 near their forwardends, and the feet 28 are apertured for receiving screws 29 or the like,serving to rigidly secure the feet 28 to the tops of the members 17. Theframe member 27 is preferably highly resilient and readily bendable. Itis thus seen that the resilient bowed frame member 27 has anintermediate high portion and low end portions or feet 28. The resilientbowed frame member is arranged in a substantially vertical planepositioned at the forward ends of the mop sections 15 and 16 and extendstransversely between the forward ends of the mop sections 15 and 16.

The hood 25 is provided at its transverse center and upon its lower sidewith a longitudinal fabric strip 30 stitched thereto by lines ofstitching 31 for forming with the hood a longitudinal flexible pocketextending; for the major portion of the length of the hood 25. Thefabric strip 31 may terminate somewhat short of the transverse hem 26,as at 32, Figure 3, and somewhat short of the rear extremity of the hood25, if desired. In any event, the fabric strip 31} provides a flexiblelongitudinal pocket extending for the major portion of the length of thehood, at right angles to the tubular hem 26.

Within the pocket formed by the fabric strip 30 is arranged alongitudinal highly resilient arcuate frame member 33, suitably formedof a section of band saw steel or the like. This frame member 33 extendsentirely through the pocket afforded the strip 31 and has its forwardend underlying the hem 26 and transverse frame member 27 as shown at 3Figure 3. The frame member 33 is arranged at right angles to the framemember 27 and extends longitudinally rearwardly thereof, as shown. Theforward end 34 of the frame member 33 is rigidly secured to theunderside of the hem 26 and frame member 2'7 at the longitudinal centerof the latter by means of a bolt 35, screw or the like. The rear.extremity 36 of the fabric hood 25 and the rear end portion 37 of framemember 33 are apertured for the reception of a metal ring 38, or thelike. This ring 38 is disposed between the rear converging ends of themop sections 15 and 16, and-rearwardly of the pintle 20, Figure 9. Thering 38 is preferably tied to the pintle 20 by means of a flexible tyingtape 39, cord or the like, as shown in Figure 9 between the upper andlower plates 19 of the pairs of plates. The rearend portion 37 of theresilient frame member 33 and the rear extremity 36 of the hood 25 arethus disposed just forwardly of the rear converging ends of the mopsections 15 and 16. The resilient frame member 33 is longitudinallycurved and is vertically inclined and has a high end secured to theintermediate high part of the frame member 27 and a low end which issecured to the rear ends of the mop sections through the medium of thepintle 20 and associated elements.

When the hood 25 is assembled onto the mop with the frame members 27 and33 in the bowed condition as shown in the drawings, the lower edge 40 ofthe hood is generally horizontal and extends just above the tops of themop sections 15 and 16 throughout substantially their entire lengths. Ifdesired, the lower horizontal edge 40 of the hood may be reinforced witha strip of heavy reinforcing tape 41, or the like. The resiliency of thebowed frame members 27 and 33 maintains the flexible hood 25 elevated asubstantial distance above the tops of the mop sections 15 and 16 at theforward end of the hood, and the hood is inclined downwardly toward itssides and rear end, as shown.

Additional pairs of tying tapes 42, cords or the like are secured to thelower edge of the hood 25 adjacent the lower ends of the handles 21 and22 for tying the lower edge of the hood to the handles substantiallymidway between the forward and rear ends of the hood. The lower edge 40of the hood is thus held close to the tops of the hinge mop sections 15and 16 in use.

In order to prevent the rear ends of the handles 21 and 22 from beingseparated too great a distance during the use of the mop, thus damagingthe mop, I provide a safety stop in the form of a flexible chain 43 orthe like between the handles rearwardly of their pivot 23. The ends ofthis chain 43 are secured to the handles 21 and 22 by any suitablemeans, as shown, and the chain limits the extent to which the rear endsof the handles may be separated and thus limits the opening of the mop.The chain does not interfere with the full closing of the mop when therear ends of the handles 21 and 22 are drawn together. The chain 43 maybe omitted, if desired.

In the use of the mop for sweeping waste material from the aisles ofcotton mills and the like, the mop is pushed forwardly over the floor inthe fully open position shown in Figure 1. The sweepings are gatheredbetween the divergent mop sections 15 and 16 and may pile up to aconsiderable extent within the large space above the tops of the mopsections afforded by the hood 25. The sweepings are thus trapped beneaththe hood 25 and between the mop sections 15 and 16 and cannot spillrearwardly over the mop sections because of the close proximity of thebottom of the hood to the mop sections 15 and 16. The cover 25 issubstantially triangular, has a rear narrow end, a forward wide end andinclined side edges. The forward wide end is secured to the transverseframe member 25 while its rear narrow end is secured to the rear ends ofthe mop sections through the medium of the pintle 2t} and associatedelements. The transverse frame member 27 extends above the mop sectionsand is arranged in a transverse vertical plane positioned at the forwardends of the mop sections. The frame members 27 and 33 retain the cover25 elevated. This cover is entirely mounted upon and supported by themop section. The cover 25 extends over the space between the mopsections 15 and 16, when such sections are in the outermost position anddiverge forwardly. The cover 25 also extends from the rear end of themop sections to the forward ends of the same and this cover extends overor covers substantially the entire space between the rnop sections 15and 16, when in the open position. Wind or a stream of overhead air froma blower or the like in the cotton mill cannot blow the sweepingsrearwardly over the mop sections or spill them upon the floor because ofthe action of the hood 25.

When the hood is filled with the waste material collected by sweeping,the handles 21 and 22 may be drawn together in the manner of a scissorsfor closing the mop sections 15 and 16 which may then be arranged closerto parallel. The resiliency of theframe members 27 and 33 permits thisaction to take place, and as the forward ends of the mop sections movetogether, the forward edge of the hood becomes increasingly bowed andelevated, and the hood along with the mop sections 15 and 16 closesabout the sweepings and compresses the sweepings within the hood. Theentire mop can now be lifted from the floor and the sweepings willremain within the hood so that the mop can be held over a depositreceptacle and then opened by separating the handles for dropping thesweepings into the receptacle. A further advantage in connection with mydevice is that the resilient frame and cover are bodily mounted upon themop sections 15 and 16, and are not attached to the handles 21 and 22 atan elevation near or above the pivot 23. This aids in the propermanipulation of the device so that there is no tendency for theresilient frame and cover to drop from the mop sections, when thehandles are raised and lowered during the emptying of the mop device.

The mop in accordance with my invention is obviously suitable forvarious sweeping operations other than the sweeping of cotton mills,although I have found that the mop is ideally suited for this purpose.It is equally suitable for sweeping trash from any floor and for othergeneral cleaning purposes.

'WhiIe I have described the hood 25 as formed of canvas and the framemembers 27 and 33 are formed of band saw steel, it should be understoodthat other suitable materials may be employed if desired. Also, anysuitable means other than the tying tapes 39 and 42 may be used forsecuring the lower end of the hood to the mop structure if desired.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown anddescribed is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and thatvarious changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may beresorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention or thescope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A sweeping device comprising a pair of elongated relatively movablemop sections having their rear ends hingedly connected so that theirforward ends may be swung laterally toward and from each other, handlemeans connected with the mop sections to shift them to an inner positionand to an outer position so that the mop sections diverge forwardly, atransverse resilient bowed frame member having a high intermediateportion and low ends, said low ends being mounted upon the forward endsof the mop sections, said bowed frame member extending above the mopsections and arranged in substantially vertical plane extendingtransversely of the mop sections adjacent to their forward ends when themop sections are in the open position, a longitudinal frame member whichis vertically inclined and has a forward high end and a rear low end,said forward high end being attached to the transverse resilient framemember near the center of the raised intermediate portion thereof, saidrear low end being secured to the rear ends of the mop sections, and agenerally triangular flexible cover having a reduced rear end and a wideforward end and inclined side edges, said wide forward end being securedto said transverse resilient frame member and its rear reduced endsecured to the rear ends of the mop sections, said inclined side edgesbeing arranged adjacent to mop sections are in the outer position anddiverge forwardly said cover will extend Substantially entirely over thespace between the mop sections thus covering the sweepings andprotecting the same from overhead air currents, the transverse resilientframe member yielding to permit the mop sections being swung toward eachother.

2. A sweeping device comprising a pair of elongated relatively movablemop sections having their rear ends hingedly connected so that theirforward ends may be swung laterally toward and from each other, handlemeans connected with the mop sections to shift them to an inner positionand to an outer position so that the mop sections diverge forwardly, atransverse inverted generally U-shaped resilient frame member having ahigh intermediate portion and low ends, said low ends being mounted uponthe forward ends of the mop sections, said frame member extending abovethe mop sections and arranged in a substantially vertical planeextending transversely of the mop sections adjacent to their forwardends when the mop sections are in the open position, a longitudinalframe member which is vertically inclined and has a forward high end anda rear low end, said forward high end being attached to the intermediatehigh portion of the transverse frame member, said rear low end beingsecured to the rear ends of the mop sections, and a generally triangularflexible cover having a reduced rear end and a wide forward end andinclined side edges, said wide forward end being secured to thetransverse resilient frame member and its rear reduced end secured tothe rear ends of the mop sections, said inclined side edges beingarranged adjacent to the mop sections, said longitudinal frame memberbeing arranged beneath and engaging with said cover, the arrangementbeing such that when the mop sections are in the outer position anddiverging forwardly said cover will extend substantially entirely overthe space between the mop sections thus covering the sweepings andprotecting the same from overhead air currents, the transverse resilientframe member yielding to permit the mop sections being swung toward eachother.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,784,567 Aultman Dec. 9, 1930 2,579,103 Whittaker Dec. 18, 19512,614,281 Clark Oct. 21, 1952 2,756,453 Mattson July 31, 1956

